Members prepare for Altrusa Home Tour

September 27, 2003

Tony Parra

The Altrusa Home Tour will give people from the Portales community insight on home designs on Oct. 5.
The Altrusa Home Tour will take place from 2-5 p.m. in five different houses. The Altrusa Club has hosted the annual tour for at least 31 years, according to Altrusa co-chairperson Frankye King.
It is one of the major fund-raising events for Altrusa and one of the favorites among local residents, Altrusa members say.
“We like to get houses with different varieties of designs,” King said. “People look forward to the event each year. In fact, they ask us ahead of time when it’s going to be to make sure they don’t miss it.”
Tickets are $5 per person for touring all five houses and can be purchased by calling Altrusa member Dianne Parker at 356-6641 ext. 18. Money raised from the Altrusa Home Tour will be donated to Eastern New Mexico University scholarships, Girls state sponsorships and for the purchase of “Baby Think it Over” dolls for the Portales schools.
“We have different types of homes,” Parker said. “We have new homes and old homes that have been redone. We have different varieties of designs such as the southwest look for example. They (people who volunteered their homes) have different tastes in antiques.”
The Altrusa club also sponsors the Reading Is Fundamental program for which the club purchases books and presents them to third grade students in Roosevelt County. The Altrusa Club also makes donations to the Junior Women’s Club, which consists of junior high, high school and college members.
Micah Thompson, an Altrusa Club member, volunteered her house for the tour. Peter and Micah Thompson have their three-bed room, two-bath house on Main St. The Altrusa Club has asked Thompson before, but Thompson decided this year she would volunteer her house.
“It’s a charming and wonderful house,” Thompson said. “Their is a beautiful line of trees with a beautiful yard.”
The Thompsons decided to create an environment in each room that reflects their children. The Thompson’s four-year old son Brock’s room has a certain cowboy theme to it with denim and rope trim while their two-year old daughter’s room is decorated with pink furniture, including a pink rattan play set. The set is complemented with a china tea set turned chandelier.
Thompson enjoys designing and picked up on some design tips from going to Carlton Furniture. She graduated from Portales High School in 1992.
“My grandparents owned Carlton Furniture since the 50’s,” Thompson said. “I used to go to the furniture store after school. I love trying to put rooms together and the design aspect of it.”
The tour will consists of cookies and punch in the patio of one of the houses on the tour. Terry and Joyce Cone have a red-brick house which is 3,900 square feet. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom house was built in 1999. The interior is decorated with sage green, beige and cranberry. The Cones also collect Norman Rockwell figurines.
“It gives people new picture ideas,” King said. “They can gather ideas and adopt them in their houses.”
Ticket for the annual fund raiser include addresses of the houses and maps for directions.